Pocket books: small volumes in the Shaw Collection
Today we are celebrating John MacKay Shaw on the anniversary of his death in 1984. Shaw (1897-1984) was a Scottish-born American businessman and philanthropist who collected works of British and American poetry related to the theme of childhood. When talking about the Shaw collection, we often highlight the 5,000 first and rare editions of majorContinue reading “Pocket books: small volumes in the Shaw Collection”
State of the FSU Digital Library
Every year, about this time of year, I give an update on all the things that happened with the digital library last year. As you can imagine, the FSU Digital Library in DigiNole: FSU’s Digital Repository experienced some changes in how we do business last year. There were stretches of time where we weren’t addingContinue reading “State of the FSU Digital Library”
Recycling and Reuse in Medieval Manuscripts
When you think of the Middle Ages, do you think of recycling? While the concept may seem foreign to us now, medieval people regularly reused and recycled all kinds of objects. Obviously, medieval recycling wasn’t concerned with the idea of reducing single-use plastic or trying to decrease contributions to landfills. Instead, recycling was simply aContinue reading “Recycling and Reuse in Medieval Manuscripts”
Sun City
Recently, we digitized the Sun City Development and Motion Picture Studio Plat Map Sheets for use in a class which led me to look into…what are these exactly? I uncovered a fascinating story of the brother of Cleveland railroad barons and a Georgia inventor who, a decade apart, tried to bring Hollywood to Florida. DuringContinue reading “Sun City”
Maggie Kuhn, Claude Pepper and the Repeal of Mandatory Retirement
“Some persons dodder at 30, others at 80, and some pass through life without “doddering” at all. Our concern should be with competency, not age, race, sex or religion” – Representative Claude Pepper, 1986 There was a time for many professions in the United States when a person’s 65th birthday signaled the end of theirContinue reading “Maggie Kuhn, Claude Pepper and the Repeal of Mandatory Retirement”
Found in the Archives: The Capitol March for the Equal Rights Amendment in Tallahassee
October is American Archives Month! As an institution that works alongside and documents the local community, I wanted to highlight two collections housed in the Claude Pepper Library that illustrate local political action in our historic capitol: The National Organization of Women, Tallahassee Chapter Records and the League of Women Voters, Tallahassee Chapter Records. TheContinue reading “Found in the Archives: The Capitol March for the Equal Rights Amendment in Tallahassee”
Capturing Virtual FSU
When the world of FSU changed in March 2020, the website for FSU was used as one of the primary communication tools to let students, faculty, and staff know what was going on. New webpages created specifically to share information and news popped up all over fsu.edu and we had no idea how long thoseContinue reading “Capturing Virtual FSU”
Contribute to the FSU Community COVID 19 Project
Students, faculty, and alumni! Heritage & University Archives is collecting stories and experiences from the FSU community during COVID-19. University life during a pandemic will be studied by future scholars. During this pandemic, we have received requests surrounding the 1918 Flu Pandemic. Unfortunately, not many documents describing these experiences survive in the archive. To createContinue reading “Contribute to the FSU Community COVID 19 Project”
Solar Energy: A Brief Look Back
In the early 1970’s the United States was in the midst of an energy crisis. Massive oil shortages and high prices made it clear that alternative ideas for energy production were needed and solar power was a clear front runner. The origins of the solar cell in the United States date back to inventor CharlesContinue reading “Solar Energy: A Brief Look Back”
Catastrophic Health Care: A Goal Not Met
In the Summer of 1987, Representative Claude Pepper introduced House Resolution 2654. In it a request was made to establish a 12-member committee charged with providing recommendations to Congress for a comprehensive health care program for all Americans. In October of 1988, Pepper was appointed as the chairperson of the United States Bipartisan Commission onContinue reading “Catastrophic Health Care: A Goal Not Met”
Updated SCA Page in Florida History Research Guide
This post was co-authored by Jennifer Fain. Special Collections & Archives is pleased to announce our new and improved page on the Florida History research guide. One of our major projects this summer in light of Covid-19 and the need for expanded online services has been to update our presence on FSU Library research guidesContinue reading “Updated SCA Page in Florida History Research Guide”
Michael McClure: In Memoriam
On May 4th of this year, one of the great geniuses of poetry and the arts passed away, and we wanted to take a moment here to commemorate his passing. Michael McClure helped launch the counterculture Beat generation alongside Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Philip Whalen, and Diane Di Prima, and is also associatedContinue reading “Michael McClure: In Memoriam”
Birthday Wishes For Emmett Till
Saturday will mark what would have been Emmett Till’s 79th birthday. Conversation and scholarship around Emmett Till and his place in the mid-century American Civil Right Movement usually focuses on his 1955 kidnapping, murder, and the ensuing trial, and rightfully so. But today, to commemorate the anniversary of his birth, FSU Special Collections & ArchivesContinue reading “Birthday Wishes For Emmett Till”
From the Talisman to Smoke Signals: a student publication at FSU
The history of Florida State University and its predecessor institutions is ubiquitous with numerous and varied outlets for student expression. Student-run publications have been at the heart of student expression on campus since 1906, when Florida State College for Women students began Talisman. The Talisman was the first literary magazine published by an institution ofContinue reading “From the Talisman to Smoke Signals: a student publication at FSU”
Community Partner Spotlight: Leon High School
Along with First Baptist Church of Tallahassee, Leon High School (LHS) was one of our first community partners and we learned a lot on this project (what to do and not do with future community partners). Overall though, it was a rewarding experience to work with this sort of non-traditional archive and also to workContinue reading “Community Partner Spotlight: Leon High School”
Behind the Scenes: Building a Digital Exhibit with Omeka
Like all of you, Covid-19 made an abrupt change to my spring semester. Thankfully, my Digital History class was mostly unaffected because the assignments were already web-based. Our final project had us create a digital exhibit using Omeka.net which is a free platform available from the Roy Rosenzweig Center for New Media. As opposed toContinue reading “Behind the Scenes: Building a Digital Exhibit with Omeka”
Community Partner Spotlight: First Baptist Church of Tallahassee
For our second community partner spotlight, I am excited to be able to share newly available materials in the First Baptist Church of Tallahassee (FBCT) digital collection! Once we completed digitization of the church bulletins, I met with my contacts at the Church for what they wanted to explore for digitization next. A set ofContinue reading “Community Partner Spotlight: First Baptist Church of Tallahassee”
Community Partner Spotlight: Havana History & Heritage Society
One of my favorite responsibilities in my work is coordinating and working with community organizations in the Tallahassee area to digitize materials they hold in their historical collections. As a public university, I feel FSU, and by extension myself, have a responsibility to help smaller community institutions who are unable, for various reasons, to digitizeContinue reading “Community Partner Spotlight: Havana History & Heritage Society”
History of the Nursing Program at FSU
May 6th is Nurses Day! Florida State College for Women (FSCW) began a precursor to the current Nursing Program in 1936. A B.S. in Nursing was available through the School of Home Economics. Students in this program worked closely with local hospitals to receive the necessary nursing training, while also taking more traditionally liberal artsContinue reading “History of the Nursing Program at FSU”
Collection Update: The Historical Photograph Collection
This article was written by Jeffrey Henley, a graduate student who has been working with the Florida State University Historic Photograph Collection with Heritage & University Archives since September 2018. The FSU Historic Photograph Collection in the Heritage & University Archives at Florida State University contains in excess of 250,000 images and negatives. The collectionContinue reading “Collection Update: The Historical Photograph Collection”
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and FSU’s Ostraka Collection
Here’s how Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey’s portrayal of ostraka aligns with the historical record.
Sermons from a Changing Tallahassee in the 1960s
Recently, one of our community partners, the First Baptist Church (FBC) of Tallahassee, gave us an audio CD with digitized recordings from Dr. C.A. Roberts, the pastor for the church in the 1960s. Tallahassee, as you can imagine, was undergoing a lot of social and cultural change in the 1960s as the Civil Rights MovementContinue reading “Sermons from a Changing Tallahassee in the 1960s”
The History of the Ku Klux Klan in Miami
When you think of Miami, you think of the beaches, the art, the South Beach area, a tourist paradise, and the rich Cuban culture. Miami is one of Florida’s most influential cities that produces many stars, politicians, and field leaders. Great things come out of Miami, however, there is one thing within the history ofContinue reading “The History of the Ku Klux Klan in Miami”
A moment on the Equal Rights Amendment
On March 22, 1972, the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by the US Senate and sent to the states for ratification. The central idea behind the amendment is simple: all American citizens, regardless of gender, have equal rights before the law. Almost fifty years later, the amendment has still not passed, as only 35 ofContinue reading “A moment on the Equal Rights Amendment”
Claude Pepper and the National Institutes of Health
This Tuesday, April 7, was World Health Day, and to celebrate, we’re shining a spotlight on the work of Senator Claude Pepper and his role in expanding the National Institutes of Health. Established in 1887, the primary location of the National Institute of Health is based in Bethesda, Maryland. Originally known as the Hygienic Laboratory,Continue reading “Claude Pepper and the National Institutes of Health”
Share Your COVID-19 Pandemic Story with the University Archives
Heritage & University Archives is launching a campus-wide project to encourage FSU students, staff, and faculty to document their personal experiences during the coronavirus outbreak and contribute them to the University Archives. In accordance with FSU’s University Archives Policy, we are already collecting records related to FSU’s official response. We want to also ensure thatContinue reading “Share Your COVID-19 Pandemic Story with the University Archives”
International Children’s Book Day in the DL
As we adjust to our new realities in the time of coronavirus, and we’re going stir-crazy and already bored with the books in the house, maybe it’s time for a deep dive into the children’s books of yesteryear for some new material. So, on today, International Children’s Book Day, celebrated on or near the birthdayContinue reading “International Children’s Book Day in the DL”
A History of Extracurricular Activities at Florida State College for Women
Considering how long students have been coming through the walls of our historic university, it goes without saying that we have a rich and varied history of extracurricular, student-run activities. At Florida State University, many of these long-standing traditions and activities were established during our time as an all women institution, between 1905 and 1947.Continue reading “A History of Extracurricular Activities at Florida State College for Women”
Florida Home Economics Association Scrapbooks
With our work on extension service scrapbooks with the Havana History and Heritage Society for Gadsden County, we took a look at our own collections and found Leon County scrapbooks for a similar period on our own shelves! The Florida Home Economics Association Records holds scrapbooks which are mostly Leon County extension service records fromContinue reading “Florida Home Economics Association Scrapbooks”
Black History Month: Notable University History Collections
February is Black History month and for those interested in studying Black History at Florida State University, we thought we would highlight a few of our collection in Heritage & University Archives. Perhaps the most obvious place to look, and one of our more informative collections on the topic, is our Black Student Union collection.Continue reading “Black History Month: Notable University History Collections”
Love Your Pet Day – Means Family Home Movies
Today on National Love Your Pet Day, Special Collections & Archives celebrates not only our own pets, but those of our collection creators as well!
Vintage Valentines in the Archives
Valentine’s Day gained popularity in the United States with the introduction of mass-produced Valentines cards around the middle of the 19th century. Most of these early cards have long since disappeared, but we are fortunate to have many examples of early 20th century valentines here in Special Collections & Archives. Aside from being a repositoryContinue reading “Vintage Valentines in the Archives”
Black History Month: Celebrating Black Authors
Black History Month is upon us and it is time to reflect, recognize, and revere the numerous contributions that black authors have made to our society. Therefore, it is our pleasure to highlight some influential black authors (whose works we have in the stacks at Florida State University Special Collections and Archives). Maya Angelou Occupation:Continue reading “Black History Month: Celebrating Black Authors”
State of the Digital Library
In 2019, we added 11 new collections to the digital library. We also added 1,414 new books (over 71,000 pages). 6,759 images, 1,028 newspaper issues and 3,707 PDF files. All added up with all the other types of files we loaded, we added 13,760 new items in the digital library in 2019! Now, the moreContinue reading “State of the Digital Library”
Uncovering Local Sharecropping through a General Store: The Van Brunt Business Records
Around thirteen miles North from downtown Tallahassee is Lake Iamonia. Families such as the Van Brunts historically developed the land around Iamonia as large cotton plantations. R.F. Van Brunt was born in 1862 and from 1902 to 1911 operated a general store and the Van Brunt plantation in the area. The collection primarily comprises storeContinue reading “Uncovering Local Sharecropping through a General Store: The Van Brunt Business Records”
Enslaved Lives in the Archives at FSU- Research Guide and ASERL Exhibit Update
Special Collections & Archives wants to share some updates on our work surfacing and highlighting collections documenting local enslavement and sharecropping. Collaborating with the Tallahassee History and Human Rights Project in their creation of the Invisible Lives Tours produced a list of our archival materials that we wanted to make more visible and accessible toContinue reading “Enslaved Lives in the Archives at FSU- Research Guide and ASERL Exhibit Update”
New Digital Collection – The Talisman
The Talisman was a student run publication that was active at Florida State College for Women (FSCW), FSU’s predecessor institution. The magazine was published quarterly by the Thalian Literary Society and the Minerva Club, the first two literary debate societies of FSCW. The first issue was published in 1906 and it ran until 1914, whenContinue reading “New Digital Collection – The Talisman”
Boots Thomas Digital Collection online from the FSU WWII Institute
Ernest Ivy “Boots” Thomas Jr. was born on March 10, 1924 and raised in Monticello, Florida. He served as a Platoon Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, Company E, Second Battalion, 28th Marines of the Fifth Marine Division during World War II. His collection, held by The Institute on World War II and theContinue reading “Boots Thomas Digital Collection online from the FSU WWII Institute”
Behind the Scenes: Enslaved Lives in the Archives at FSU
Special Collections and Archives spent this summer contributing to two projects centered on the lives of local enslaved people. Currently, we are supporting the Tallahassee History and Human Rights Project. The first phase of this collaborative effort between the Grove Museum, Goodwood Museum & Gardens, the Tallahassee Museum, and the community seeks to better interpretContinue reading “Behind the Scenes: Enslaved Lives in the Archives at FSU”
Scrapbooks to the Past, Gadsden County Edition
Scrapbooks are one of the best time capsules an archives may hold in its collections. These books, some giant, some small, were put together with care and love by the people who were actively looking to document and save their history as it was happening. Here at FSU, we hold dozens of scrapbooks that studentsContinue reading “Scrapbooks to the Past, Gadsden County Edition”
New materials available in DigiNole highlight Integration statue.
A new set of photographs are now available in DigiNole: FSU’s Digital Repository. The photographs were taken from events at Heritage Day 2004, during which a statue celebrating integration was unveiled on campus. The digitized materials also include a program and newspaper clippings. Notable people depicted in the photographs include Doby Flowers, FSU’s first AfricanContinue reading “New materials available in DigiNole highlight Integration statue.”
Impressive Fabrics: The Ina VanStan Printing Plates
Ina VanStan (1901-1989) was a Professor of Clothing and Textiles at Florida State University. Her studies focused on a variety of fabrics pre-Colombian Peru, as well as other cultural artifacts from that time. The Ina VanStan Printing Plates contain twenty-three printing plates of various sizes depicting fabric patterns from Van Stan’s studies of Peruvian fabrics.Continue reading “Impressive Fabrics: The Ina VanStan Printing Plates”
Celebrating the Start of Summer
We recently completed digitization of the newspaper from Leon High School here in Tallahassee. Started in the 1920s, the paper has gone through several name changes to end up at Leon High Life today. Our recent additions to the newspaper started in 1988 and bring us up to the end of Spring 2019. To writeContinue reading “Celebrating the Start of Summer”
Godby High Yearbooks Online
FSU Libraries continues to partner with local organizations to bring the history of our region online and available for research. Today’s new digital collection comes from a local high school, Godby High School. Opened in 1966, it officially became a school for grades 9-12 in 1968, graduating its first class in 1970. Much younger thanContinue reading “Godby High Yearbooks Online”
Castro Archaeological Site Collection
The Digital Library Center (DLC) recently uploaded a new set of material to the Castro Archaeological Site Collection in DigiNole! The most recent additions to this collection contain comprehensive notes, drawings, and analysis of the Castro archeological site in Leon County. More information on this collaboration between the DLC and FSU’s Department of Anthropology canContinue reading “Castro Archaeological Site Collection”
New records from St. John’s in DigiNole
We are pleased to announce that additional records of the St. John’s Episcopal Church are now available online through DigiNole: FSU’d Digital Repository. These include records of baptisms, marriages, and burials at St. John’s throughout the 20th century, as well as early vestry minutes, detailing early church events such as establishing the site of theContinue reading “New records from St. John’s in DigiNole”
Summer Quiet
Summer is indeed a quieter time on campus. Today starts the summer term here at FSU and we wish all students the best of luck in their summer classes. We recently posted in DigiNole: FSU’s Digital Repository more volumes of The Girl’s Own Paper, or The Girl’s Own Annual as it was eventually titled. YouContinue reading “Summer Quiet”
The Lord Mayor’s Show
In loading some new titles to the John MacKay Shaw Childhood in Poetry Collection, I noticed an event popping up in several of the texts. The Lord Mayor’s Show, an event still held today, was a popular topic in British children’s books in the 1800s. Children’s books in this era were often used to educateContinue reading “The Lord Mayor’s Show”
Intersession Intermission
As FSU heads towards the summer class semesters, generally a much quieter time on campus, Special Collections & Archives will be available by appointment only during the intersession week, May 6-10, 2019. Appointments are available between 10am to 12pm and 1pm and 4pm during this week. The Special Collections Research Center in Strozier Library, theContinue reading “Intersession Intermission”
Herbaria side by side
Herbaria are collections of different plant specimens which have been dried and preserved. They can be used for many different reasons including personal collecting and as data necessary for scientific studies. FSU even has a museum-quality collection of plants and micro-algae specimens held at the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium. Special Collections also has a goodContinue reading “Herbaria side by side”
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